


the line where the sky meets the sea (it calls me)

by Frenchibi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Hopeful Ending, M/M, MerMay, Merperson Oikawa, but like... it's not graphic, character injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-08 08:54:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14690706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frenchibi/pseuds/Frenchibi
Summary: Hajime puts his life in two categories - before That Day, and after. The day his life was saved by an otherworldly force, a creature so beautiful that he couldn't help but fall.A creature who turned human just to stay with him. Who gave up his powers, his strength, his beauty, for the simple gift of mortal love.And now, the waves are calling him home.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ricekrispyjoints](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ricekrispyjoints/gifts).



> This is not nearly as poetic as the summary makes it seem lmao I am really tired but I had mermay feelings and I wanted to contribute.  
> For Dmitri, for being a fantastic friend - I wanted to give u something bc Im lov u lmao

He finds him down by the sea, as always.

It's become so routine by now that seeing his silhouette against the darkening sky is familiar, not surprising.

Tooru's shoulders tense as he steps close - Hajime will never get over how good his hearing is (or the softness of his skin, the gentle nature of his touch, the intensity of his eyes-).

"Hey," he says, unnecessarily.

Tooru shivers a little in the evening breeze, and instinctively (always, always) Hajime moves closer to him, just as Tooru shrinks back for warmth. It's like a well-practiced dance.

"I miss it," he whispers.

There are no games here, not ever. Not with Tooru, who never learned to not say exactly what he means.

"I know."

What else can he say? _Please don't go? I will never love anyone the way I love you. You've given my life meaning. You've saved me._

And not just literally, on that Last Day. Or the First Day, really, of his new life. The day he found new hope. The day Tooru made sure he didn't drown, no matter how much he wanted to.

"I'm scared, Iwa-chan."

Hajime's arms find their way around Tooru, like coming home, like the only thing that feels right.

"...what are you scared of?"

"Going back. Last time... last time, I..."

He doesn't need to say it.

"I know. It's... It's hard."

Tooru turns to face him, to grab his collar (for safety, for emphasis, for stability).

"The water wants me to forget," he says, quiet but urgent. "Every time I go back, I lose a piece of you, and I- I can't do that."

Hajime brushes a hand through Tooru's hair - not consciously, but he's always gravitating towards him anyway. Tooru leans into the touch.

"What are we gonna do...?"

Tooru shakes his head and buries his face in Hajime's chest, wrapping his arms around him, and he's so thin, almost gaunt, and so, so pale-

This is killing him. No matter how much he wants to stay, he's not meant to.

"...you're dying," Hajime says, because it's killing him too, seeing Tooru so small and broken, a mere shell of the majestic creature he once was-

"I want to stay with you," Tooru whispers, "don't make me go, that's... it's not my home anymore, you are-"

His knees are giving way.

No matter how badly he wants to stay, he'll always be drawn back here, back to the waves, back to where he should be.

"I love you," Hajime says.

It's the first time he's actually said the words, and Tooru, though he must have known, starts shaking in his arms.

"Iwa-chan... don't make me..."

"I refuse to watch you die," he whispers into Tooru's hair. "I can't. I'm not strong enough for that."

Tooru is starting to push against him, urging him away from where the waves are lapping up onto the sand, back towards their cabin, away from the growing storm.

"Let's go home," he says, stubborn, impossible, "and lie down, and sleep-"

"Tooru-"

"You haven't taught me where you hunt, there's so much I don't know yet-"

"Tooru, listen-"

Somewhere along the line, tears have started to trickle down Tooru's face. He knows that Hajime is right, he knows it but he hates, he refuses, vibrant and volatile as always-

"I'll go with you," Hajime says, tightening his grip. "As far as I can, I'll go with you. I won't let you forget me."

Tooru shakes his head in disbelief. "You'll die-"

"I won't. You've made sacrifices for me, I'll make them for you. And you'll keep me safe, close to the surface so I can breathe."

"I can't promise you that, I don't know what will happen-"

"I trust you."

There are no stronger words he could have chosen.

Tooru's body is going limp in Hajime's arms - it's time.

"Iwa-chan-"

"It's okay. We'll be okay." _I will never give up on you._

The fear in Tooru's eyes is growing glazed as weakness overtakes him. Hajime knows this from last time, it won't be long before he forgets how to breathe air, before his skin starts to dry and shrivel, before his scales start peeling off.

Last time, it was all he could do to throw Tooru to the waves, desperately hoping it would save him. Last time, he stood by the shore, anxiously following the fluorescent blue glow of his transformation.

Last time, it was torture to see the small moment of confusion in Tooru's face when he resurfaced, the tiny second of do I know you? before his memories came flooding back like the waves that reclaimed him.

There's no telling when they'll return now, or if they will at all. Tooru has shared his struggle, and Hajime is determined to do everything he can to protect him from it happening again.

But maybe, everything he can won't be enough.

Hajime has no answer for what he will do then, except for what his mind is chanting, over and over: _I love you, I love you, I love you._

He hopes it's enough. He prays that it is.

He carries his love into the waves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do y'all want a sequel where I resolve this angst lmao  
> Comments sustain my life force


	2. Chapter 2

The second the water envelops him completely, his mind goes blank.

It's like the first breath of air after near-suffocation, the first sip of water after a year-long drought - immediate and overwhelming, slamming into him from all sides, and the longing that he's been feeling is instantly alleviated.

Instinct takes over, because he's needed this so badly and now it's all around him. _Deeper, quickly, away from the surface, away from the air-_

Anything to get away from the place that dried up his skin and ignited his throat with the raw feeling of breathing. His gills open gratefully, and already he can feel his skin healing, his scales regrowing, his fins sprouting from their folds. He kicks his legs one last time before allowing them to merge, to grow and stretch back into his tail.

He pushes deeper, and as he does, as his eyes grow accustomed to their natural habitat, he knows he is growing - back to the size he is meant to be. He's suppressed his true nature for so long, it's a relief to stretch, to swim, to glide.

He's forgetting something, though he's not sure what. Something that felt urgent, but seems less and less important by the second because he's home.  
  


Tooru kicks away from him immediately, without a second's hesitation.

At first, Hajime dives after him. He submerges himself, pushing down, and forces his eyes open - but Tooru is already fading into the distance, his turquoise scales blending with the water. And he looks bigger now, like a car or even a truck - large and menacing as he disappears.

Hajime opens his mouth, but of course only a string of bubbles shoots up to the surface, the sound of his cry swallowed instantly by the depths.

He holds himself down, hoping desperately that Tooru will turn, will remember-

Suddenly, somewhere in the darkness ahead and below, two gigantic, glistening eyes blink back at him.

One of them easily the size of Hajime's torso. _Fuck._

Before he can even think, he's pedaling back, pushing himself towards the shore, away from the frightening sight ahead. He can't turn his back on it, transfixed, and the eyes are coming closer-

His head breaks the surface and he gasps for air, frantically swimming back to the beach.

He doesn't stop, not even when his feet touch sand. As soon as he can, he takes off at a run, self-preservation overtaking any notion of saving Tooru and bringing him back, because that can't be him, it can't be-

He hears it before he sees it, even as he's skidding across sand.

There are no screams, because there's no one around, but the air suddenly feels tighter.

Slowly, Hajime turns back to the ocean, letting out a gasp of air.

He is terrifying.  
  


He rises above the waves like a tsunami, his torso alone overtowering the cliffs and the nearby lighthouse with ease. His eyes are piercing and electric with an emotion that could be rage or amusement, his scales each the size of a human hand. His fins and the webs between his fingers are like sails, and the ripples caused by his surfacing crash onto the rocks and sand like remnants of a storm.

Hajime is drenched, and the force of the water sends falling to the ground.

He had known Tooru was a god - known, but knowing is different from seeing.

His enormous eyes zero in on Hajime, on his hands and knees as the water recedes.

Something flashes there, like recognition - or purpose.

He lifts his hand with surprising speed, and Hajime barely has time to take in a shocked breath before Tooru's webbed fingers surround him. There's nowhere to run, and no point in screaming.

  
It's a human, he confirms, holding it up in front of his face. A regular air-breather - insignificant, harmless. Even their largest boats and nets cannot harm him, cannot even fathom his existence in the darkest depths of the ocean with his brothers and sisters. So why - why, then, does he feel _important?_

Where is the longing coming from that his brain cannot override? Who is this creature, why is he different?

He asks him, in his native tongue, a series of hisses and clicks that are nonsensical above water, half-expecting the human to understand.

But of course he doesn't. His reactions are so small - he might be angry, or scared, Tooru cannot tell. He's making a noise, something vaguely familiar.

A different language. Of course.

Tooru shakes his head, sending a cascade of droplets down to the sea.

_Remember._   
  


"Tooru," Hajime says. It's his only chance, since he doesn't seem to want to eat him - make Tooru remember. Bring him home.

Of course, this is where he belongs. Hajime would have fought for him, if he thought it made any sense. But Tooru is a god, and Hajime a mere mortal, insignificant.

He cannot hold him back, not after Tooru's had to save him once already.

But Tooru hasn't run. He's returned, and he seems to remember, at least in parts.

_Remember who you saved. Who you loved._

"Tooru. It's Hajime, remember?"

The fingers around him unfold, until he's resting in an open palm. Tooru is bringing him close to his face, onto a level with his eyes.

"It's me," he tries again. "Hajime. You- you saved me."

Tooru blinks - and then he mimicks the sound. "...Ha...jime..."

It's not too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello I'm back lmfao  
> was this enough resolution  
> do u want more resolution  
> comments sustain my life force
> 
> thank u for reading :') is this fandom slowly dying or is it just my writing...?


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